Advance Rally

MTO started the Game Boy Advance off with a jumpstart with Advance GTA, and while not many hyper-realistic games have followed since, MTO is coming back with another real-world racer in Advance Rally.

The game's adherence to rally rules changes up the formula quite a bit, mostly for the good. While it's not known whether the game will have any multiplayer like the original -- rally racing traditionally only has one car on the road in staggered laps that usually means you'll never see another car, and only Lap Time trading and Ghost Lap racing has been announced for the link cable use -- it will have that same attention to detail and realism. 23 real car models are to be included, racing on 24 tracks in 14 nations. Real weather effects, including mud, rain, and snow will throw your control off drastically.

As for improvements in the technology and gameplay, Advance Rally has a complex suspension system that will let the cars get air, spin out, skid, and even roll over for big-time crashes. The tracks aren't exactly the 3D spectacles of a next-gen racer, but there's more detail on the track than the original, and the course is set with a higher view for more viewing distance ahead. Also a cool addition is the use of real speech for the navigator.

Advance Rally will be released this December in Japan, and with the abundance of English text in the menus, it's hoped that the game will again see a quick turn-around and release in the States... just as long as they DON'T TAKE OUT THE BATTERY!

The game's here at Spaceworld, so look for hands-on impressions of Advance Rally soon.